Starting in 2004, the Cruisin Grand organizers have been putting on a September event that draws spectators from well outside the boundaries of Escondido and Temecula.

In fact, we know it draws good folks from Orange County and in particular, folks that look like these fine gentlemen!!!

Now, just so I could prove I was there, we took another shot, but pay close attention to Allen checking his GPS coordinates...

Off we go and note that the club photographer is getting caught being the club photographer!!!

Now, no one is the club photographer, so if you want to be it...you can be!!! The line forms right here!

On the way there, Al & Gary come zooming by, and I mean zooming!!!

So fast that he takes the lead from Allen!!!

And see that freeway sign, well, I don't think we were supposed to see that freeway sign on this trip...

Never fear, Al leads the way and we make it to Grand Avenue just in time to meet up with some other good folks!!!

Finally the Miller's get the short end of the...drive!

Even at 4:30 or so when we arrived, we had to park way, way, way down the street, but were able to take some fun shots with what looks like a theater in the background.

Now, it may not be quite truthful to say that Allen is checking a map to see what went wrong, but it sure gives me a good chance to suggest it!!!

Now Allen (why are so many of these pictures about him) just had to know how an Edelbrock carb worked. Boy, were they excited to see so many interested people around their display. They even took pictures of us to show the home office!!!

And while we are on the subject of Allen, notice how much trimmer he is!! Good for him!!!

I know Gary and Al like each other, but when Gary can't take his eyes off of him for a picture, you just have to wonder about this relationship...

Think I'm kidding? Picture number two!!!

Okay, at the beginning of this note I didn't say what Nitro Night was, but the pic above should give you a great clue!!!

While a lot of people collect model trains and pedal cars, there is a growing group of enthusiast's that want to restore a piece of drag racing history.

And what is getting all of the attention? Top Fuel nitromethane powered dragsters from the mid sixties. These cars are showing up at dragstrips and shows like this all over the country!!!

An entire city street is blocked off to allow these cars to start up and thrill the spectators!

And boy did they!!!

Sometimes a car in a lower class shows up because it was a significant car in it's class. This one is from the Altered class. Almost as fast as a dragster, but a much wilder ride.

Clint was on his A game here taking many of these high quality pictures!!! The others...well, just be nice...

So you might be wondering, how can these 200 mph plus cars be so close to the public....?

...the drive shafts are removed so they can't move on their own power. Still, standing 15 feet away from a nitro burning car is scary enough!!! 

The format was set up to let newcomers to the sport to understand how a drag race was staged at a track...

Since the cars couldn't move on their own, they were pushed by a truck into position behind a mock starting line...

One of the racing greats of all time was Vista's own Don Prudhomme. A star in the dragster and funny car class, he earned his nickname...the Snake!!! 

Now, the crowd pleasing aspect of nitro powered cars are the flames from unburned fuel coming out of the zoomie headers....

It's there during the daytime, but at night...there is nothing more exciting than watching an engine literally on fire outside of the engine!!!

Sometimes that fire can get out of hand, and in the first round, the Altered had some issues. In the second...

It was a pretty scary start to the night. After a 10 minute cleanup of the fire extinguishing chemicals, we were back to revving up cars and pleasing the crowd! 

As you might imagine it is pretty tricky to take pictures of the cars at night. If you want to see the flames you need to turn the flash off. But if you do that, then the image is blurry. Give professional photographers a lot of credit when they catch these fire breathing cars at their best!!!

Now, for this album we are adding videos to the picture collection. Go to www.youtube.com and enter the keyword yegstertime  There you will find a whole host of videos taken of the cars. Turn up the volume and have some fun capturing the sounds of the past - 60's style!!!

Nitro night was a blast and I hope more of the club members make it out to Escondido next year!!!!

Want to learn more about this special group of people bringing the history of drag racing to a facility near you?

Check them out at www.cacklefest.com